SEAS Celebrates Class of 2013

Members of the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science community celebrated the awarding of 129 Engineering degrees on May 20, 2013, at Yale’s 312th Commencement Ceremony. Yale College students earned 68 Baccalaureate degrees; graduate students earned 61 degrees, including 37 Ph.Ds.

Bachelor's degrees in Biomedical Engineering were conferred upon 21 members of the class of 2013; in Mechanical Engineering, 16 degrees; in Electrical Engineering, 13 degrees; in Environmental Engineering, 10 degrees; and in Chemical Engineering, 8 degrees.

SEAS undergraduate students, faculty and family members gathered after Commencement for a convocation program in Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall. Dean T. Kyle Vanderlick celebrated the achievements of the engineering undergraduates, who had successfully completed one of the most rigorous programs in the University.

“Our graduates today have pursued an education of great span and great depth,” Dean Vanderlick said. “Engineers are intellectual craftsmen: skilled in scientific principles and fluent in the language of mathematics, they use these tools as part of their repertoire to solve problems.”

Dean Vanderlick also announced the winner of the prestigious Henry Prentiss Becton Prize for Excellence in Engineering and Applied Science: Connie Wu. In addition to earning a 3.99 GPA and ranking as the top Chemical Engineering student in the class of 2013, Wu conducted research into thin film biomaterials at the highest level, according to Chemical Engineering Chairman Paul Van Tassel. Upon graduation, Connie will pursue a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at MIT.